The invention has application, for example, to a currency note stacking and presenting mechanism included in a cash dispenser unit of an automated teller machine (ATM). As is well known, in operation of an ATM a user inserts a customer identifying card into the machine and then enters certain data (such as codes, quantity of currency required, type of transaction, etc.) upon one or more keyboards included in a user console of the machine. The machine will then process the transaction, update the user's account to reflect the current transaction, dispense cash, when requested, from one or more currency cassettes mounted in the machine, and return the card to the user as part of a routine operation.
A cash dispenser unit of an ATM typically includes at least one note picking mechanism for extracting notes one by one from an associated currency cassette, and a stacking and presenting mechanism for accumulating the extracted notes into a stack and then feeding the stack of notes to a delivery port or exit slot in the ATM from where the stack may be removed by a user of the ATM.
A cash dispenser unit of an ATM may be of the rear loading type in which currency cassettes are removed from, and replaced in, the dispenser unit from the rear of the ATM, that is the side of the ATM opposite the user console, or it may be of the front loading type in which currency cassettes are removed from, and replaced in, the dispenser unit from the front of the ATM. Normally, a through-the-wall ATM, in which the user console is mounted in a wall of a bank or other building, includes a cash dispenser unit of the rear loading type, while an in-lobby ATM located inside a bank or other building may include a cash dispenser unit of either the rear loading or front loading type.
From U.K. Patent Application No. 2106687A there is known a cash dispenser mechanism which can be modified so as to have either a front loading or a rear loading configuration. This known mechanism comprises upper and lower units, the upper unit housing stacking means and transport means for feeding a stack of currency notes to an exit port and for feeding rejected notes to a rejected note container positioned at the rear of the mechanism, and the lower unit housing currency note dispensing compartments and transport means for feeding notes to the upper unit. The whole of the lower unit is rotatable through 180.degree. with respect to the upper unit during installation, whereby the installed cash dispenser mechanism can be either front loading or rear loading. This arrangement has the potential advantage of increasing the manufacturer's productivity, since it is not necessary to manufacture two different types of cash dispensing mechanisms for front loading and rear loading operation. However, this known cash dispensing mechanism has the disadvantage that complexities are introduced due to the need to rotate the whole of the lower unit relative to the upper unit. For example, it is necessary to provide adjustable gate means for diverting notes from the lower unit to the upper unit, such gates being liable to give rise to jamming of the notes. A further disadvantage of this known mechanism is that when the mechanism is in a front loading configuration the rejected note container remains at the rear of the mechanism, which gives rise to difficulties in obtaining access to this container for removing notes therefrom.